1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to lancing devices and in particular, but not exclusively, to lancing devices for use with a removable lancet.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are many instances where a user needs to prick the skin to draw a bead of blood for test purposes. To reduce the possibility of cross-infection or contamination, it is known to provide a lancing device with removable or disposable lancets which are removed and disposed after each use. Although a lancing device is reusable for an extended period, it is nevertheless desirable to reduce the component count in order to reduce manufacturing and assembly costs. It is also desirable to reduce the amount of handling of the lancet by the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,423,847 discloses a lancet injector which uses two elastomeric bands to drive the lancet forwardly and to rapidly withdraw the lancet from the skin. The injector includes a separate chassis disposed within a housing, a shaft, an ejector and a separate slide member. Movement of the ejector is controlled by engagement with the chassis during various phases of operation of the device. The device is complicated to manufacture and assemble given the number of components. In particular, the injector requires a separate slide member and a chassis in addition to the other components.